When Zach Risedorf was 13 and still just a seventh-grader at Northwestern Middle School, his father Shane asked him if he would like to play pro baseball for a living.

It wasn't a whimsical question. Shane, Zach's travel baseball coach as well as an instructor at the Connecticut Baseball Academy, saw a ton of potential in his son and wanted to know if he was ready to get really serious about the game.

"I knew whatever I was doing then was going to have to be magnified tenfold in order for me to play professional baseball," Zach said. "I knew a lot of sacrifices would have to be made, both by me and my family, so I didn't answer him right away. I took a week to put a lot of thought into it."

Read more of this story and more!
7-Day Subscribers have FREE access to everything on rep-am.com and our E-Edition.CLICK HEREto register and activate your access,.

Not a subscriber?You can purchase a single-day subscription for only $0.75 to read this and access all of our content and our E-Edition. CLICK HERE purchase a single day subscription.

Become an electronic subscriber to the Republican-American for only $8 a month. CLICK HERE.